A jury in California has favoured Apple in its patent case againts Korean company Samsung.

The nine-member Federal Court jury has ruled that Samsung has copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad and recommended Apple be awarded US$1.051 billion as damages.

“This is a great day for Apple. And it will turn into a very expensive day for Samsung,” said technology analyst Jeff Kagan.

“All of its patents were held valid, and all but one were held to be infringed by most or all of the Samsung products cited in the case. Even better for Apple, five of the seven patents were held to be willfully infringed by Samsung,” said Brian Love, a professor of patent law at Santa Clara University.

While it is not clear whether Samsung could still continue the use of the technology, the verdict can possibly lead to an absolute ban of Samsung products, making Apple dominant in the US smartphone market.

Samsung shipped 50.2 million smarthphones worldwide for three months to June compared to the 26 million iPhones sold by Apple, said by a research firm IDC.

Apple’s charges of infringement against Samsung are widely seen as a de facto challenge to Google and its Android software which powers Samsung’s devices.

South Korean court found Apple and Samsung both copied each other’s patents, ordering Apple to stop selling four different products including iPhone and banning Samsung from selling 10 products including the Galaxy S II.

GB